‘More in Return’ deserves a fair hearing

Thursday

Feb 28, 2013 at 3:15 AM

It looks like those “neighborhood forums” for the city council’s proposed plan for waste disposal are off to a promising start.

The first forum, held on Monday evening, drew a crowd that filled Goodall Library’s community room and resulted in a two-hour presentation and discussion that was largely productive and civil. More forums are planned in the coming weeks.

The council last week approved a contract with Waste Zero for the company’s new and untried “More in Return” program. The program is the council’s second attempt at reining in the costs of disposing of the city’s waste after the “Pay-As-You-Throw” debacle a few years ago. You may recall that the council enacted that program during the summer of 2010, only to see voters overwhelmingly repeal it at the polls that November.

This time around, councilors are hoping that a promised rebate is the right hook for residents to support “More in Return.” Under this program, residents would still have to purchase special bags for their trash, while recyclables would still be separated and put out in marked bins for pick-up. However, a portion of the price of those bags would be put into an escrow account and, at the end of the year, each household would receive a rebate based on the number of bags used by the average household.

In other words, the more you recycle, the more money you could get back at the end of the year. And the city wins too, for a high recycling rate equals lower disposal costs. Right now, Sanford’s recycling percentage is in the low twenties — up from a few years ago, yes, but dramatically down from the days when Pay-As-You-Throw was in effect.

“More in Return” deserves a fair hearing, and these five forums are providing it. The council seems to have learned a lesson from the Pay-As-You-Throw episode and now knows you have to take such a significant proposal out of the city hall chambers and to the people.

Those who think the council is putting the cart before the horse — holding these forums after signing the contract — should take a deep breath. This spring, the council will vote whether or not to approve an ordinance that would enact the program; if the council senses no community support for the program, then it will not be implemented.

On that point, councilors should focus on listening to residents as much as they do on trying to sell “More in Return” to them. This requires cutting through the din of those on either side who are most vocal and discerning what is truly the public’s consensus on the proposal. If the council discerns public approval for the plan, then there’s no problem. If it senses disapproval and enacts “More in Return” anyway, it risks both the ire of a populace that is overtaxed and a possible citizen’s petition to repeal the program.

One letter-writer to the Sanford News proposed letting voters settle the issue by voting on the program at the polls in June. We disagree. We elect our councilors to use their judgment when it comes to entering into contracts, and that’s what the “More in Return” proposal entails. If we question or lose faith in a councilor’s judgment, then we oust him or her on Election Day. That’s how it works.

However, if residents make clear, through these forums and other means, that they do not want to see “More in Return” enacted, then they must share the responsibility afterward if the council abides.

Gandhi said it best when he theorized that the key to freedom and democracy is self-discipline. When people lack such discipline, their government steps in to solve the problems that result.

Translated: If everyone in Sanford would recycle on their own, the city government would not step forward with these “Pay-As-You-Throw” and “More-in-Return” ideas.

On this issue, residents should not be fretting about feeling powerless or victimized by the council’s proposed solution to a pressing problem. Residents do have the power here to affect an outcome. They can exercise that power by being wise as to where they discard their trash.

Do I throw this empty cereal box in the trash can with the rest of the garbage, or do I toss it in that recycling bin over there instead?

Think of how much money the city would save if everyone chose that recycling bin.